Nicholas Simon
President
1866-1880
John E. Simon
President
1880-1914
Frank X. Simon
President
1914-1925
Alfred J. Simon
President
1925-1954
John and Frank built their first ice plant in Louisville
Mergenthaler typesetting machine
Lino Department
1912
Frank E. Simon
Publishers Printing Company logo
1937 Flood
1937 Flood
Frank E. Simon
President
1954-1990
Shepherdsville Plant
1961 Flood
1961 Flood
1961 Flood
1961 Flood
Co-Palletization and Drop Shipping
Michael J. Simon
Executive Vice President
1990-Present
Lebanon Junction plant
Sports Car International, the first magazine ever to be printed with a complete CTP process
Heat-set Web offset Press
Nicholas X. Simon
President
1990-Present
MAN Roland Printing Press

company info / timeline

Publishers Press Timeline

1846: Simon family immigrated to the United States from Germany
1866: Nicholas Simon purchased interest in a new German newspaper in Louisville, Kentucky which later became known as "The Printing Rooms of Nicholas Simon."
1879: Simon's company began printing the monthly newspaper of the Catholic Archdiocese of Louisville, called "The Record."
1880: Nicholas retired and his sons, John E. and Frank X., ran operations.
1881: "The Record" became a weekly and began running advertising.
1885: The Simon company began printing the weekly "The Katholischer Glaubensbote" (The Catholic Messenger of Faith).
1885: John E. and Frank X. changed the name of the company, as it became incorporated, to The Glaubensbote Publishing Company.
1886: Equipment advancements were made with the purchase of a steam boiler and steam engine to run the presses along with new gas fixtures and lamps.
1895: John E. and Frank X. built their first ice plant in Louisville, leading to John's patented system for making clear, odorless, tasteless, and sanitary ice directly from water.
1907: The company leased a Mergenthaler typesetting machine.
1910: The company purchased a new Miehle Press. Alfred J., son of Frank X., joined the company as director. Frank X. served as secretary and John E. was president.
1914: John E. retired.
1922: As business grew, a new building was added and another Meihle press was purchased. Frank A., son of Frank X., joined the company.
1922: Because 75 percent of people could neither spell, pronounce, nor understand the company name, it was changed to Publishers Printing Company.
1923: Publication of "The Katholischer Glaubensbote" ceased.
1925: Frank X. died, and Alfred J. became president and general manager of the company. He drew the company logo of the father reading the newspaper that is still used today by Publishers Printing Company, the parent company of Publishers Press.
1927: Frank A. returned to school and became the country's leading allergy doctor. His son, Frank G., was also an allergist.
1929: Publishers Printing Company began publishing and printing the first nationally distributed publication, "The Market Growers Journal."
1936: The company bought the Louisville print shop Brandt & Fowler.
1937: During a flood, company employees were brought to work by boat, and operations were powered by a gasoline engine.
1946: Frank E. joined the company.
1954: Frank E. became president.
1958: Publishers Printing Company moved its 50 employees to a plant in Shepherdsville, Kentucky that was 33,000 square feet.
1958: Frank E. created Publishers Press, the marketing arm of Publishers Printing Company.
1961: Flooding forced employees to park outside town and walk the railroad tracks to work, while mail was brought in and sent out by boat.
1965: A building addition of 15,000 square feet was made.
1966: Equipment additions included a Friden tape editor, a Meihle two-color, sheetfed, offset press, an Elektron Mixer linotype machine, a Baumfolder, and a Polar cutting machine.
1969: Alfred J. retired and Publishers Printing Company began the transition from letterpress to sheetfed offset.
1972: The company bought the Computer Graphics prepress facility.
1973: Publishers Printing Company installed its first heatset web.
1981: Nicholas X., son of Frank E., joined the company.
1982: Michael J., son of Frank E., joined the company.
1986: After a survey found customers knew of the company as Publishers Press instead of Publishers Printing Company, a logo was created containing five Ps, one representing each generation of family ownership of the company.
1988: Michael J. was issued a patent for his openface, pin register, blueline frame.
1990: Plans for a second plant in Lebanon Junction, Kentucky were drawn out.
1990: Frank E. died, and his son Nicholas X. was named president while Michael J. became Executive Vice President.
1991: Operations began at the Lebanon Junction plant, which was 120,000 square feet.
1993: A 90,000 square-foot addition was made to the Lebanon Junction plant.
1994: The company added 30,000 square feet of space in Lebanon Junction for prepress facilities.
1994: The company makes history with the printing of "Sports Car International," the first magazine to ever be printed with a complete CTP process.
1996: A four-story addition was completed in Lebanon Junction for offices and Customer Service.
1997: Publishers Press established the first USPS-approved co-palletization program for short- to medium-run magazines.
1999: The addition was completed for the Pressroom, Bindery, Warehouse, and future training centers.
2000: The Lebanon Junction Training Center was completed, enabling on-site training at both facilities.
2000: The Postal Drop Shipment Program was initiated, allowing Publishers Press to combine and ship magazines from both plants to several postal facilities across the country.
2001: A 48,000 square foot warehouse was completed in Lebanon Junction for the storage of equipment and maintenance parts.
2002: The Lebanon Junction Plant installed and placed into production two MAN Roland 4-unit presses.
2004: The third MAN Roland press was ordered to be placed into service the following year.
2005: The company installed its first co-mailer, which would allow customers to offset current and future postal increases.
2005: Publishers Press enjoyed its largest sales volume in the company's history.
2006: The company expanded its drop shipping program to achieve destination entry at 173 postal entry points.
2007: The Publishers Press logo was redesigned to look more like a printing press while incorporating the P's representing each generation of family ownership.
Present: 1700 employees; Shepherdsville - 340,000 square feet; Lebanon Junction- 654,000 square feet.